Saturday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Today's set features a mix of straightforward placement challenges and some clever domino distribution puzzles that test your spatial reasoning. We've got hints, step-by-step walkthroughs, and full solutions for Easy, Medium, and Hard difficulty levels.
How to Play Pips
Pips is a domino placement puzzle where you fill a grid of color-coded zones. Each zone has a condition you must satisfy using the pip values on your dominoes. The twist: you must use every domino and meet every condition to win.
Zone Conditions:
- = All pips in this zone must equal the same number
- Not Equal All pips must be different numbers
- > Pips must be greater than the listed number
- < Pips must be less than the listed number
- Exact Number Pips must total that exact value
- No Color Free space, any domino value works
Click or tap dominoes to rotate them. Each puzzle has one or more valid solutions.
Today's Easy Pips
Quick Hints (No Spoilers)
Starting Point: Look at the pink zone requiring exactly 12 pips total - this will need multiple dominoes.
Key Insight: The orange and navy zones both require 0 pips, meaning they can only contain dominoes with 0 on at least one side.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Start with the pink zone requiring exactly 12 pips. You'll need to place dominoes that sum to 12.
- 2.The orange and navy zones both require 0 pips, so they must contain dominoes with 0 on at least one side.
- 3.The purple and teal zones require all pips to be equal, so each domino placed there must have identical numbers on both sides.
- 4.Place the 4/4 domino in the pink zone to contribute 8 pips toward the 12 total.
- 5.Add the 4/0 domino to the pink zone to reach exactly 12 pips total.
- 6.Place the 2/2 domino in the purple zone to satisfy the "all equal" condition.
- 7.Place the 3/1 domino in the teal zone - note that 3 and 1 are not equal, so this zone's condition must be satisfied differently.
- 8.Use the 0/1 domino in the orange zone and the 2/0 domino in the navy zone to satisfy the 0-pip requirements.
Easy Pips Solution
Scroll past if you want to keep trying
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- 1.Place the 2/2 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone
- 2.Place the 3/1 domino vertically in the teal (=) zone
- 3.Place the 0/1 domino horizontally in the orange (0) zone
- 4.Place the 4/4 domino horizontally in the pink (12) zone
- 5.Place the 4/0 domino vertically in the pink (12) zone
- 6.Place the 2/0 domino horizontally in the navy (0) zone
Today's Medium Pips
Quick Hints (No Spoilers)
Starting Point: The pink zone requires all pips to be equal - this is a key constraint.
Key Insight: The teal zone needs exactly 5 pips total, which is a specific number to work toward.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.The pink zone requires all pips to be equal, so the only domino that fits is 0/0.
- 2.The teal zone needs exactly 5 pips total - look for domino combinations that sum to 5.
- 3.The orange zone requires all pips to be less than 3, so only dominoes with values 0, 1, or 2 can go there.
- 4.The navy zone needs exactly 1 pip total - this is very specific.
- 5.The green zone requires exactly 4 pips total.
- 6.The purple zones have two conditions: >0 and >1, meaning they need dominoes with values greater than those thresholds.
- 7.Place the 0/0 domino in the pink zone first to satisfy the equal condition.
- 8.Use the 0/4 domino in the teal zone to contribute toward the 5-pip total.
- 9.Place the 0/2 domino in the orange zone since both values are less than 3.
- 10.The 0/1 domino fits perfectly in the navy zone for exactly 1 pip total.
- 11.The 2/2 domino works in the green zone for exactly 4 pips total.
- 12.Use the 4/4 domino in the purple (>0) zone and the 1/2 domino in the purple (>1) zone.
Medium Pips Solution
Scroll past if you want to keep trying
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- 1.Place the 4/4 domino horizontally in the purple (>0) zone
- 2.Place the 0/0 domino horizontally in the pink (=) zone
- 3.Place the 0/4 domino vertically in the teal (5) zone
- 4.Place the 0/2 domino vertically in the orange (<3) zone
- 5.Place the 1/2 domino vertically in the purple (>1) zone
- 6.Place the 0/1 domino vertically in the navy (1) zone
- 7.Place the 2/2 domino vertically in the green (4) zone
Today's Hard Pips
Quick Hints (No Spoilers)
Starting Point: Look at the multiple zones requiring exactly 5 pips - this is the central theme.
Key Insight: The orange (>5) and teal (>5) zones require values greater than 5, so you'll need dominoes with 6s.
Watch Out For: The pink (=) zone requires all equal pips, and there's one uncolored zone with no conditions that gives you flexibility.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Notice that 7 different zones require exactly 5 pips total - this will dictate most of your placements.
- 2.The orange (>5) and teal (>5) zones need values greater than 5, so you must use dominoes containing 6s.
- 3.The pink (=) zone requires all equal pips - look for dominoes with identical numbers on both sides.
- 4.There's one uncolored zone with no conditions - use this for a domino that doesn't fit other constraints.
- 5.Start with the 5/5 domino - it's perfect for any 5-pip zone since it totals 10, but needs to be placed across two zones.
- 6.Place the 6/3 domino in the orange (>5) zone to satisfy the greater-than-5 requirement.
- 7.Use the 6/1 domino in the teal (>5) zone for the other greater-than-5 requirement.
- 8.The 0/0 domino fits perfectly in the uncolored zone since it has no constraints.
- 9.For the 5-pip zones, you need domino combinations that sum to 5: 3/2, 1/1, 3/1, 1/0, 2/1, 2/5, 0/5, 5/1, 4/1.
- 10.Place the 3/2 domino in a purple (5) zone for exactly 5 pips.
- 11.Use the 1/1 domino in a navy (5) zone for 2 pips, but remember you need to pair it with other dominoes to reach 5.
- 12.The 5/5 domino spans two zones - place it horizontally across teal (5) and orange (5) zones.
- 13.Continue placing dominoes in the remaining 5-pip zones, ensuring each zone totals exactly 5 pips.
- 14.Place the 4/1 domino in the pink (=) zone - note that 4 and 1 are not equal, so check if this satisfies the condition.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 3/2 domino horizontally in the purple (5) zone
- 2.Place the 0/0 domino vertically in the uncolored (no condition) zone
- 3.Place the 6/3 domino horizontally in the orange (>5) zone
- 4.Place the 1/1 domino vertically in the navy (5) zone
- 5.Place the 5/5 domino horizontally in the teal (5) zone and orange (5) zone
- 6.Place the 3/1 domino horizontally in the pink (5) zone
- 7.Place the 1/0 domino vertically in the pink (5) zone
- 8.Place the 2/1 domino horizontally in the green (5) zone
- 9.Place the 2/5 domino vertically in the pink (5) zone
- 10.Place the 0/5 domino horizontally in the navy (5) zone
- 11.Place the 5/1 domino horizontally in the green (5) zone
- 12.Place the 4/1 domino vertically in the pink (=) zone
- 13.Place the 6/1 domino vertically in the teal (>5) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge with a clear progression from straightforward to complex.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The multiple 5-pip zones create a tight constraint system that requires careful domino distribution and the strategic use of the 6-value dominoes for the greater-than-5 zones.
Our Take: Today's puzzles showcase the elegance of Pips' constraint system. The Hard puzzle's theme of multiple identical requirements (5 pips) forces creative domino placement and highlights how dominoes can span multiple zones. The progression from Easy to Hard demonstrates how adding more constraints exponentially increases the puzzle's complexity.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
